Kiss of Death @ Kilimanjaro

Kiss of Death 1 🦁… Why did the lioness cross the road? To go to prey of course ! 😹. Actually otw to the Amboselli airstrip, and after two days of zero lion sighting, we struck the jackpot 🎰. Sakinah was the first to spot this beauty and an epic 20 minutes followed. Almost missed our plane home! Would have been worth it! Super thankful πŸ¦πŸ’«πŸ™πŸ½

 

18 July 2017

Kiss of Death 2 🦁… getting into striking range. The tall grass gives perfect cover as the lioness sizes up the choice between wildebeests or zebras? Kili at the back there. πŸ™€πŸΎπŸŽ―

 

18 July 2017

Kiss of Death 3 🦁… the moment when striking distance became a strike ! Exhilarating. Kilimanjaro peering over; witness to countless kills since beginning of time. Circle of Life. Majestic. πŸ’«πŸ—»πŸ¦

 

18 July 2017

Kiss of Death 4 🦁. Can a successful chase become a successful kill? Getting ready for an epic 15 minute wrestling contest (cue the bad puns ; WWF meets WWF 😜) . The wildebeest is actually larger than the lioness who is hunting alone today πŸ¦πŸƒπŸ€Όβ€β™€οΈ

 

18 July 2017

Kiss of Death 5 🦁. Super lucky to see this epic kill on practically our last drive of a ten day safari. At Amboselli where Out of Africa was filmed, in the shadow of Kilimanjaro πŸ¦πŸƒπŸ™πŸ½

 

18 July 2017

Kiss of Death 6 🦁 … the critical sequence when the wildebeest’s brief ascendancy saw a fatal slip and the lioness quickly reasserting a dominant and ultimately conclusive position on top. Watching the last few kicks of a dying prey was both raw and very moving . πŸ€œπŸΌπŸ™ˆβš°οΈ

 

18 July 2017

Kiss of Death 7 🦁 … lioness eventually wins the wrestling contest and kills by suffocation. This very experienced lioness goes for kiss of death rather than strike as it was hunting alone, and knows that wildebeests unlike zebras will not defend collectively. Clever. πŸ¦πŸƒπŸ’ͺ🏼

 

18 July 2017

Kiss of Death 8 🦁… it starts the feeding with the soft tissue … by the scrotum ! 😼🎱🎱. All the while looking around for other predators and scavengers . At this point , baboons (social media viral agents of the savannah) already screeching ! πŸ¦πŸ”πŸ’

 

18 July 2017